Pork fillet with cream and cider

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This wonderful recipe is adapted from an idea in Nigel Slater's excellent book: The 30 minute cook.

The garlic sounds excessive, but is tempered by blanching it first. I'm sure, however, that Julia would not approve, she is made of sterner stuff!

Ingredients

• 10 Cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 15 g butter
• 30 ml olive oil
• A pinch of little white pepper
• 1 pork fillet, cut into two and flattened under a cleaver or heavy frying pan - same procedure as butterflying
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 100 ml dry cider
• 100 ml single cream
• 4 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

Method

1. Fill an small pan with enough boiling water to properly cover the garlic
2. Drop the garlic into the pan and simmer on a medium heat the garlic for 12 minutes to blanche it.
3. Remove with a slotted spoon reserve and allow to cool
4. In a pan with a lid, heat the oil, add the butter, white pepper and combine
5. Add the pork fillet and brown for 3 minutes each side. Reduce the heat in the pan to as low as it will go.
6. Squeeze all of the softened garlic out of it's paper skin into the pan, add the sliced apple, a bay leaf, cover and very gently cook for 20 minutes. Don't let it burn.
7. Remove the pork fillet and keep warm
8. Turn up the heat , add the cider and bring to the boil, mashing the garlic and apple with a wooden spoon or the end of a rolling pin
9. Add the cream and half of the spring onions and season to taste with salt and pepper, return the pork fillet and heat the sauce for another few minutes and serve.

Serving suggestions

Serve hot, garnished with the remaining spring onions.

Serve with simply cooked green beans and crusty French bread